


Tales of Kevin Riley

by SherlockHolmes



Series: Tales of the Enterprise [1]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Gen, Tarsus IV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-03 01:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2833871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockHolmes/pseuds/SherlockHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of short (and slightly longer) stories centring around Kevin Riley and Tarsus IV</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So due to having fallen out of practice, I'm trying to get into frequent writing again. This work (and the series it belongs to) is going to be a series of mostly unconnected shorts set in the same universe. Each work within the series is going to focus on one character. Most of the chapters will be pretty rough and unedited - I have no beta and am doing these for practice. Constructive criticisms are always welcome. Update schedule will one chapter of something every second day, most likely in this series unless I get a stroke of inspiration for any of my other series.

Lieutenant Riley was a well known eccentric. That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t well liked - in fact, his natural swagger and confidence had made him highly popular with the rest of the crew. So the eccentricities weren’t so much ignored as accepted. The way he always had protein bars on him, or hidden away in various different spots on the ship so if he got peckish he could instantly eat, was such a part of every day Kevin Riley that people just accepted it.

Well, that was until the newest batch of recruits came aboard. Kids who were yet to be exposed to the various antics of the crew, who had no idea where the various crew's boundaries lay. They were sitting in the dining hall, Riley devouring the food on his plate ravenously, while one of the newbies watched incredulously.

"I swear you've been eating protein bars all day. How are you not full yet?"

"Practice," Riley replied, jovial as every, although the light of laughter didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Man, you would never survive in a famine, would you?"

The lieutenant's hands gripped the cutlery so hard the knuckles turned white, food not moving towards his mouth.

“Everything okay, Kevin?" Sulu asked.

He smiled, a fake, strained one that made Sulu edgy. 

“Yea. Just feel an oncoming headache. I think I might just head off to bed.”

That was something that rarely happened. Riley liked to be in the thick of everything. The thought of going to bed early and missing out on any of the ship’s gossip was usually an idea he vehemently opposed - he was known to end up passed out, asleep on the table after a double shift rather than retire to his quarters early.

“Do you want me to accompany you back to your quarters? You can always do with some company in those turbo lifts.”

“I can get back on my own. I’m not some helpless little kid.”

The words were spat, bitingly, and as Sulu flinched Riley’s face softened.

“Sorry. That was uncalled for. But I’m fine, Hikaru. I just need a nap and I’ll be right as rain.”

Sulu didn’t push his friend any further. If it was something important, Riley would confide in him in his own time. For now, he could just let him leave the mess, shoulders slumping in a way that should not ever appear on someone like Kevin Riley.

* * *

James Kirk ran into the young Lieutenant as he was heading to the mess post shift. 

“Lieutenant,” he greeted as they passed each other. To his surprise, the Lieutenant ignored him, walking past with his eyes focused steadily on the floor. It was out of character for Riley not to greet someone enthusiastically as he sauntered past, let alone completely ignore his commanding officer and old time friend.

“Kevin, is everything okay?” he repeated, reached out to grasp his shoulder comfortingly. Riley snapped to attention, eyes wide with panic that faded just as quickly as it had appeared.

“Yea. Yea, I’m fine, Captain.”

“Are you sure? It’s not like you to not greet a fellow crewman in the hallway.”

“I’m just tired, sir. Permission to retire to quarters, sir?”

“Permission granted. But Lieutenant, remember that you’re always able to talk to me about any concerns you have.”

Riley nodded, fidgeting for a moment, before allowing himself to speak ever so softly.

“Someone commented on my eating habits.”

Kirk nodded, understanding completely.

“I’m sorry. I’m probably the last person you want to see right now. Retire to your quarters, Lieutenant.”

Riley nodded, scarpering off as fast as he was able. He couldn’t even bring himself to be anything but grateful when the next day a notice went about the ship stating that, due to the fact that eating disorders are still common in this day and age, any comments about another crew member’s weight or eating habits from persons who were not medical professionals in a medical setting would not be permitted and would result in being disciplined. When he thanked Kirk for it, the Captain just ruffled his hair.

“It was the least I could do, Kev. And it’s not like you’re the only one who needed it.”


	2. Chapter 2

Kirk and Riley generally avoided each other on the enterprise. Their meetings in the mess were often short and awkward, each of them glancing at each other’s plate from the old habit of making sure that their companion was still eating. Neither of them would ever truly forget the way their flesh shrivelled, stomaches bloated from hunger as their hair lost its shine and their body withered away.

Both of them knew that, given half a chance, the codependency that had manifested between the Tarsus Nine during the massacre would re-emerge. Having that sort of relationship in any setting was dangerous, let alone between a captain and his lieutenant. So the two of them tended to hold each other at arm’s length, dancing around each other in mess halls and meetings, going no further than exchanging greetings and pleasantries when they passed each other in the hall.

The only exception to this rule was the anniversary of the rescue. Unless the E _nterprise_ was under direct attack at the time, Riley and Kirk would both end up in the rec room, a bottle of brandy on the table between them, food heaped on their plates. And just for that evening, they’d stop being Lieutenant Riley and Captain Kirk and just become Kev and Jimmy, two childhood companions who would have been firm friends forever had fate decided to take a different path.

McCoy always had two hang over cures on hand the next morning, asking no questions as the Lieutenant and his Captain stumbled into the medbay past beta shift, both looking like shit yet somehow more at peace as every year passed.

Knowing the reasoning behind their hang overs didn’t stop him from hypoing them as roughly as any other such irresponsible crew members.


End file.
